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Increasing inequality, consumer credit and financial fragility in an agent based macroeconomic model

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  • Alberto Russo
  • Luca Riccetti
  • Mauro Gallegati

Abstract

We investigate the interplay between increasing inequality and consumer credit in a complex macroeconomic system with financially fragile heterogeneous households, firms and banks. Simulation results show that there are pros and cons of introducing consumer credit: on the one hand, for a certain time, it leads to lower unemployment through boosting aggregate demand; on the other hand, it accelerates the system tendency to the crisis. Since the increase of financial profits goes with a decline of households’ real wealth, a policy trade-off emerges. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Russo & Luca Riccetti & Mauro Gallegati, 2016. "Increasing inequality, consumer credit and financial fragility in an agent based macroeconomic model," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 25-47, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:26:y:2016:i:1:p:25-47
    DOI: 10.1007/s00191-015-0410-z
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer credit; Inequality; Agent-based macroeconomics; Business cycle; Profit rate; Crisis; Unemployment; C63; D31; E21; E32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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